We perform a first calculation for the unpolarized parton distribution function of the $Δ^+$ baryon using lattice QCD simulations within the framework of Large Momentum Effective Theory. Two ensembles of $N_f=2+1+1$ twisted mass fermions are utilized with a pion mass of 270 MeV and 360 MeV, respectively. The baryon, which is treated as a stable single-particle state, is boosted with momentum $P_3$ with values $\{0.42,0.83,1.25\}$ GeV, and we utilize momentum smearing to improve the signal. The unpolarized parton distribution function of $Δ^+$ is obtained using a non-perturbative renormalization and a one-loop formula for the matching, with encouraging precision. In particular, we compute the $\overline{d}(x)-\overline{u}(x)$ asymmetry and compare it with the same quantity in the nucleon, in a first attempt towards resolving the physical mechanism responsible for generating such asymmetry.
We perform a lattice study of double parton distributions in the pion, using the relationship between their Mellin moments and pion matrix elements of two local currents. A good statistical signal is obtained for almost all relevant Wick contractions. We investigate correlations in the spatial distribution of two partons in the pion, as well as correlations involving the parton polarisation. The patterns we observe depend significantly on the quark mass. We investigate the assumption that double parton distributions approximately factorise into a convolution of single parton distributions.
I review the current status of lattice calculations for two selected observables related to nucleon structure: the second moment of the unpolarized parton distribution, <x> (u-d), and the first moment of the polarized parton distribution, the non-singlet axial coupling gA. The major challenge is the requirement to extract them sufficiently close to the chiral limit. In the former case, there still remains a puzzling disagreement between lattice data and experiment. For the latter quantity, however, we may be close to obtaining its value from the lattice in the immediate future.
We perform a quenched lattice calculation of the first moment of twist-two generalized parton distribution functions of the proton, and assess the total quark (spin and orbital angular momentum) contribution to the spin of the proton.
We review the latest progress in lattice QCD calculations of the partonic structure of hadrons. This structure is, in particular, described in terms of $x$-dependent distributions, the simplest of which are the standard parton distribution functions (PDFs). The lattice calculations rely on matrix elements probing spatial correlations between partons in a boosted hadron, that can be matched to light-cone correlations defining the relevant distributions. We discuss the recent theoretical and practical refinements of this strategy, as well as new exploratory directions. The latter include general…
Extracting Mellin moments of double parton distributions from lattice data
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY（德国电子同步加速器）；Irfu, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学CEA IRFU）；Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg（雷根斯堡大学理论物理研究所）；Department of Physics, National Taiwan University（国立台湾大学物理系）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky（肯塔基大学物理与天文系）；Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室核科学处）
We revise the relation between Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) and matrix elements computable from lattice QCD, focusing on the quasi-Parton Distribution Functions (qPDFs) approach. We exploit the relation between PDFs and qPDFs in the case of the unpolarized isovector parton distribution to obtain a factorization formula relating the real and imaginary part of qPDFs matrix elements to specific nonsinglet distributions, and we propose a general framework to extract PDFs from the available lattice data, treating them on the same footing as experimental data. We implement the proposed appro…
We show that a recent interesting idea to circumvent the difficulties with the continuation of parton distribution functions to the Euclidean region, that consists in looking at equal time correlators between proton states of infinite momentum, encounters some problems related to the power divergent mixing pattern of DIS operators, when implemented within the lattice regularization.
We present recent results on generalized parton distributions from dynamical lattice QCD calculations. Our set of twelve different combinations of couplings and quark masses allows for a preliminary study of the pion mass dependence of the transverse nucleon structure.
The jet quenching parameter describes the momentum broadening of a high-energy parton moving through the quark-gluon plasma. Following an approach originally proposed by Caron-Huot, we discuss how one can extract information on the collision kernel associated with the parton momentum broadening, from the analysis of certain gauge-invariant operators in dimensionally reduced effective theories, and present numerical results from a lattice study.
In this talk we reexamine the possibility of evaluating parton distribution functions from lattice simulations. We show that, while in principle individual moments can be extracted from lattice data, in all cases the process of renormalization, hindered by lattice momenta limitation, represents an obstruction to a direct calculation of the full parton distribution function from QCD simulations. We discuss the case of the Ji quasi-parton distribution functions, the possibility of using the reduced Ioffe-time distributions and the more recent proposal of directly subtracting power divergent mixi…
We discuss how lattice calculations can be a useful tool for the study of structure functions. Particular emphasis is given to the perturbative renormalization of the operators.
We present an initiatory study of quark helicity flip generalized parton distributions (GPDs) in n_f=2 lattice QCD, based on clover-improved Wilson fermions for a large number of coupling constants and pion masses. Quark helicity flip GPDs yield essential information on the transverse spin structure of the nucleon. In this work, we show first results on their lowest moments and dipole masses and study the corresponding chiral and continuum extrapolations.
The large-momentum effective theory (LaMET) framework has been widely used to determine the Bjorken-$x$ dependence of parton distribution functions (PDFs) in lattice-QCD hadron-structure calculations. In this proceeding, I highlighted selected recent lattice-QCD results on parton distributions from MSULat group. We use clover valence fermions on ensembles generated by MILC Collaboration with lattice spacing $a \approx 0.06$, 0.09, and 0.12 fm, with $M_πL \approx 4$, and with pion masses including 135, 220 and 310 MeV and $N_f=2+1+1$ flavors of highly improved staggered dynamical quarks. Result…
We review recent theoretical developments concerning the definition and the renormalization of equal-time correlators that can be computed on the lattice and related to Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) through a factorization formula. We show how these objects can be studied and analyzed within the framework of a nongauge theory, gaining insight through a one-loop computation. We use scalar field theory as a playground to revise, analyze and present the main features of these ideas, to explore their potential, and to understand their limitations for extracting PDFs. We then propose a frame…
In this document, we summarize the status and challenges of calculating parton physics in lattice QCD for the US Particle Physics Community Planning Exercise (a.k.a. "Snowmass"). While PDF-moments calculations have been very successful and been continuously improved, new methods have been developed to calculate distributions directly in $x$-space. Many recent lattice studies have been focused on calculating isovector PDFs of the pion and nucleon, learning to control systematics associated with excited-state contamination, renormalization and continuum extrapolations, pion-mass and finite-volum…
We present the first lattice-QCD calculation of the isovector polarized parton distribution functions (both helicity and transversity) using the large-momentum effective field theory (LaMET) approach for direct Bjorken-$x$ dependence. We first review the detailed steps of the procedure in the unpolarized case, then generalize to the helicity and transversity cases. We also derive a new mass-correction formulation for all three cases. We then compare the effects of each finite-momentum correction using lattice data calculated at $M_π\approx 310$ MeV. Finally, we discuss the implications of thes…
Twist-3 partonic distributions contain important information that characterizes nucleon's structure. In this work, we show our lattice exploration of the twist-3 PDFs $g_T(x)$, and $h_L(x)$. We also present our preliminary results on the twist-3 GPD $\tilde{G}_2(x)$. We use the quasi-distribution approach to connect the lattice-extracted matrix elements, renormalized in the RI/MOM scheme, to light-cone distributions, applying the matching procedure that we developed in parallel. We also calculate the twist-2 counterparts of $g_T(x)$ and $h_L(x)$, i.e. $g_1(x)$, and $h_1(x)$, and test the Wandz…
We report on our exploratory study for the direct evaluation of the parton distribution functions from lattice QCD, based on a recently proposed new approach. We present encouraging results using Nf = 2 + 1 + 1 twisted mass fermions with a pion mass of about 370 MeV. The focus of this work is a detailed description of the computation, including the lattice calculation, the matching to an infinite momentum and the nucleon mass correction. In addition, we test the effect of gauge link smearing in the operator to estimate the influence of the Wilson line renormalization, which is yet to be done.
We incorporate recent calculations of one-loop corrections for the reduced Ioffe-time pseudo-distribution ${\mathfrak M} (ν,z_3^2)$ to extend the leading-logarithm analysis of lattice data obtained by Orginos et al. We observe that the one-loop corrections contain a large term reflecting the fact that effective distances involved in the most important diagrams are much smaller than the nominal distance $z_3$. The large correction in this case may be absorbed into the evolution term, and the perturbative expansion used for extraction of parton densities at the $μ\approx 2$ GeV scale is under co…
We evaluate nucleon four-point functions in the framework of lattice QCD in order to extract the first Mellin moment of double parton distributions (DPDs) in the unpolarized proton. In this first study, we employ an nf = 2 + 1 ensemble with pseudoscalar masses of mpi = 355 MeV and mK = 441 MeV. The results are converted to the scale mu = 2 GeV. Our calculation includes all Wick contractions, and for almost all of them a good statistical signal is obtained. We analyze the dependence of the DPD Mellin moments on the quark flavor and the quark polarization. Furthermore, the validity of frequently…
We report on our exploratory study for the evaluation of the parton distribution functions from lattice QCD, based on a new method proposed in Ref.~arXiv:1305.1539. Using the example of the nucleon, we compare two different methods to compute the matrix elements needed, and investigate the application of gauge link smearing. We also present first results from a large production ensemble and discuss the future challenges related to this method.
Within a chiral quark model, we evaluate the good cross section in the Euclidean space in the vector - axial vector channel, proposed recently by Ma and Qiu as means to extract the so far elusive parton distribution functions of the pion from lattice QCD. Our results are remarkably simple at the quark model scale and agree well, after the necessary QCD evolution, with with the most recent lattice calculations at the scale $μ\sim 2$ GeV for various values of the lattice pion mass. Comparisons are made as functions of the Ioffe time variable. We also comment on the information on the lowest mome…
We provide an analysis of the x-dependence of the bare unpolarized, helicity and transversity iso-vector parton distribution functions (PDFs) from lattice calculations employing (maximally) twisted mass fermions. The x-dependence of the calculated PDFs resembles the one of the phenomenological parameterizations, a feature that makes this approach very promising. Furthermore, we apply momentum smearing for the relevant matrix elements to compute the lattice PDFs and find a large improvement factor when compared to conventional Gaussian smearing. This allows us to extend the lattice computation …
Precise quantification of the structure of nucleons is one of the crucial aims of hadronic physics for the coming years. The expected progress related to ongoing and planned experiments should be accompanied by calculations of partonic distributions from lattice QCD. While key insights from the lattice are expected to come for distributions that are difficult to access experimentally, it is important that lattice QCD can reproduce the well-known unpolarized parton distribution functions (PDFs) with full control over systematic uncertainties. One of the novel methods for accessing the partonic …
In this study, we present continuum limit results for the unpolarized parton distribution function of the nucleon computed in lattice QCD. This study is the first continuum limit using the pseudo-PDF approach with Short Distance Factorization for factorizing lattice QCD calculable matrix elements. Our findings are also compared with the pertinent phenomenological determinations. Inter alia, we are employing the summation Generalized Eigenvalue Problem (sGEVP) technique in order to optimize our control over the excited state contamination which can be one of the most serious systematic errors i…
We present the first attempt of a new method to compute the pion light-cone wave function (LCWF) on the lattice. We compute the matrix element between the pion and the vacuum of a non-local operator: the propagator of a ``scalar quark'' (named for short "squark"). A theoretical analysis shows that for some kinematical conditions (energetic pion and hard squark) this matrix element depends dominantly on the LCWF $Φ_π(u), u\in [0,1]$. On the lattice, the discretization of the parton momenta imposes further constraints on the pion momentum. The two-point Green functions made of squark-quark and s…
We review the calculation of moments of both the polarized and unpolarized parton distribution functions of the nucleon in lattice QCD, and in particular their extrapolation to the physical region. We also discuss the reconstruction of the x dependence of the valence quark distributions in the nucleon from a finite number of lattice moments.
Making use of the gluon gauge-invariant two-point correlation function, recently determined by numerical simulation on the lattice in the quenched approximation and the stochastic vacuum model, we calculate the elementary (parton-parton) amplitudes in both impact-parameter and momentum transfer spaces. The results are compared with those obtained from the Krämer and Dosch ansatz for the correlators. Our main conclusion is that the divergences in the correlations functions suggested by the lattice calculations do not affect substantially the elementary amplitudes. Phenomenological and semiempir…
This work presents the first calculation in lattice QCD of three moments of spin-averaged and spin-polarized generalized parton distributions in the proton. It is shown that the slope of the associated generalized form factors decreases significantly as the moment increases, indicating that the transverse size of the light-cone quark distribution decreases as the momentum fraction of the struck parton increases.
We present results for the $x$ dependence of the unpolarized, helicity, and transversity isovector quark distributions in the proton using lattice QCD, employing the method of quasi-distributions proposed by Ji in 2013. Compared to a previous calculation by us, the errors are reduced by a factor of about 2.5. Moreover, we present our first results for the polarized sector of the proton, which indicate an asymmetry in the proton sea in favor of the $u$ antiquarks for the case of helicity distributions, and an asymmetry in favor of the $d$ antiquarks for the case of transversity distributions.
In this paper, we present a detailed study of the unpolarized nucleon parton distribution function (PDF) employing the approach of parton pseudo-distribution functions. We perform a systematic analysis using three lattice ensembles at two volumes, with lattice spacings $a=$ 0.127 fm and $a=$ 0.094 fm, for a pion mass of roughly 400 MeV. With two lattice spacings and two volumes, both continuum limit and infinite volume extrapolation systematic errors of the PDF are estimated. In addition to the $x$ dependence of the PDF, we compute their first two moments and compare them with the pertinent ph…
We present lattice results for the isovector unpolarized parton distribution with nonperturbative RI/MOM-scheme renormalization on the lattice. In the framework of large-momentum effective field theory (LaMET), the full Bjorken-$x$ dependence of a momentum-dependent quasi-distribution is calculated on the lattice and matched to the ordinary lightcone parton distribution at one-loop order, with power corrections included. The important step of RI/MOM renormalization that connects the lattice and continuum matrix elements is detailed in this paper. A few consequences of the results are also addr…
Using weak coupling methods McLerran and Venugopalan~\cite{LV1} expressed the parton distributions in large nuclei as correlation functions of a two dimensional Euclidean field theory. The theory has the dimensionful coupling $g^2 μ$, where $μ^2\sim A^{1/3}$ is the valence quark color charge squared per unit area. We use a lattice regularization to investigate these correlation functions both analytically and numerically for the simplified case of $SU(2)$ gauge theory. In weak coupling ($g^2μL<< 5$), where $L$ is the transverse size of the nucleus, the numerical results agree with the {\it ana…
We present a detailed study of the helicity-dependent and helicity-independent collinear parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the nucleon, using the quasi-PDF approach. The lattice QCD computation is performed employing twisted mass fermions with a physical value of the light quark mass. We give a systematic and in-depth account of the salient features entering in the evaluation of quasi-PDFs and their relation to the light-cone PDFs. In particular, we give details for the computation of the matrix elements, including the study of the various sources of systematic uncertainties, such as exc…
I review the LHPC Collaboration's lattice QCD calculations of the generalized parton distributions of the nucleon and highlight those aspects of nucleon structure best illuminated by lattice QCD, the nucleon's spin decomposition and transverse quark structure.
Following a ground-breaking proposal by Ji~\cite{PhysRevLett.110.262002}, numerical simulations of Quantum Chromo Dynamics (QCD) on a Euclidean lattice have provided new, valuable information on the structure of hadrons. In this talk, we briefly review the lattice approach to the reconstruction of parton densities, highlighting the connection between lattice observables and parton densities, with a focus on theoretical issues. Since parton distributions are extracted from lattice data by solving an inverse problem, we discuss some of the difficulties that affect these determinations and how th…
To calculate the transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDPDFs) from lattice QCD, an important goal yet to be realized, it is crucial to establish a viable non-perturbative renormalization approach for linear divergences in the corresponding Euclidean quasi-TMDPDF correlators in large-momentum effective theory. We perform a first systematic study of the renormalization property of the quasi-TMDPDFs by calculating the relevant matrix elements in a pion state at 5 lattice spacings ranging from 0.03 fm to 0.12 fm. We demonstrate that the square root of the Wilson loop combi…
Parton distribution functions give the probability to find partons (quarks and gluons) in a hadron as a function of the fraction x of the proton's momentum carried by the parton. They are conventionally defined in terms of matrix elements of certain operators. They are determined from experimental results on short distance scattering of the partons. Integrals of these functions weighted with x^n are calculable using lattice QCD. Some simple models for their behavior have implications that could also be tested in lattice QCD.
In this work, we present the first-ever calculation of the isovector flavor combination of the twist-3 parton distribution function $g_T(x)$ for the proton from lattice QCD. We use an ensemble of gauge configurations with two degenerate light, a strange and a charm quark ($N_f=2+1+1$) of maximally twisted mass fermions with a clover improvement. The lattice has a spatial extent of 3~fm, lattice spacing of 0.093~fm, and reproduces a pion mass of $260$ MeV. We use the quasi-distribution approach and employ three values of the proton momentum boost, 0.83 GeV, 1.25 GeV, and 1.67 GeV. We use a sour…
Parton distribution functions are key quantities for us to understand the hadronic structures in high-energy scattering, but they are difficult to calculate from lattice QCD. Recent years have seen fast development of the large-momentum effective theory which allows extraction of the $x$-dependence of parton distribution functions from a quasi-parton distribution function that can be directly calculated on lattice. The extraction is based on a factorization formula for the quasi-parton distribution function that has been derived rigorously in perturbation theory. A systematic procedure that in…
In this work we continue our effort to explore a recent proposal, which allows light-cone distributions to be extracted from purely spatial correlations, being thus accessible to lattice methods. In order to test the feasibility of this method, we present our latest results from a twisted mass lattice calculation of the flavor non-singlet momentum, helicity and transversity distributions of the nucleon. Furthermore, we apply a newly proposed momentum improved smearing, which has the potential to reach higher nucleon momenta as required for a safe matching procedure to the physical distribution…
The strong force which binds hadrons is described by the theory of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Determining the character and manifestations of QCD is one of the most important and challenging outstanding issues necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the structure of hadrons. Within the context of the QCD parton picture, the Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) have been remarkably successful in describing a wide variety of processes. However, these PDFs have generally been confined to the description of collinear partons within the hadron. New experiments and facilities provide the o…
We define, within the Schroedinger functional scheme (SF), the matrix elements of the twist-2 operators corresponding to the first two moments of non-singlet parton densities. We perform a lattice one-loop calculation that fixes the relation between the SF scheme and other common schemes and shows the main source of lattice artefacts. This calculation sets the basis for a numerical evaluation of the non-perturbative running of parton densities.
Quasi-parton distribution functions have received a lot of attentions in both perturbative QCD and lattice QCD communities in recent years because they not only carry good information on the parton distribution functions, but also could be evaluated by lattice QCD simulations. However, unlike the parton distribution functions, the quasi-parton distribution functions have perturbative ultraviolet power divergences because they are not defined by twist-2 operators. In this paper, we identify all sources of ultraviolet divergences for the quasi-parton distribution functions in coordinate-space, a…
The path-integral formulation of the hadronic tensor W_{μν} of deep inelastic scattering is reviewed. It is shown that there are 3 gauge invariant and topologically distinct contributions. The separation of the connected sea partons from those of the disconnected sea can be achieved with a combination of the global fit of the parton distribution function (PDF), the semi-inclusive DIS data on the strange PDF and the lattice calculation of the ratio of the strange to $u/d$ momentum fraction in the disconnected insertion. We shall discuss numerical issues associated with lattice calculation of th…
A complete description of the nucleon structure in terms of generalized parton distributions (GPDs) at twist 2 level requires the measurement/computation of the eight functions H, E, \tilde H, \tilde E, H_T, E_T, \tilde H_T and \tilde E_T, all depending on the three variables x, ξand t. In this talk, we present and discuss our first steps in the framework of lattice QCD towards this enormous task. Dynamical lattice QCD results for the lowest three Mellin moments of the helicity dependent and independent GPDs are shown in terms of their corresponding generalized form factors. Implications for t…
Ioffe-time distributions, which are functions of the Ioffe-time $ν$, are the Fourier transforms of parton distribution functions with respect to the momentum fraction variable $x$. These distributions can be obtained from suitable equal time, quark bilinear hadronic matrix elements which can be calculated from first principles in lattice QCD, as it has been recently argued. In this talk I present the first numerical calculation of the Ioffe-time distributions of the nucleon in the quenched approximation.
We present the first determination of the $x$-dependent pion gluon distribution from lattice QCD using the pseudo-PDF approach. We use lattice ensembles with 2+1+1 flavors of highly improved staggered quarks (HISQ), generated by MILC Collaboration, at two lattice spacings $a\approx 0.12$ and 0.15~fm and three pion masses $M_π\approx 220$, 310 and 690 MeV. We use clover fermions for the valence action and momentum smearing to achieve pion boost momentum up to 2.29 GeV. We find that the dependence of the pion gluon parton distribution on lattice spacing and pion mass is mild. We compare our resu…
We briefly discuss the current status of lattice QCD simulations and review selective results on nucleon observables focusing on recent developments in the lattice QCD evaluation of the nucleon form factors and radii, parton distribution functions and their moments, and the neutron electric dipole moment. Nucleon charges and moments of parton distribution functions are presented using simulations generated at physical values of the quark masses, while exploratory studies are performed for the parton distribution functions and the neutron electric dipole moment at heavier than physical value of…
We present the first lattice results on isovector unpolarized and longitudinally polarized parton distribution functions (PDFs) at physical pion mass. The PDFs are obtained using the large-momentum effective field theory (LaMET) framework where the full Bjorken-$x$ dependence of finite-momentum PDFs, called "quasi-PDFs", can be calculated on the lattice. The quasi-PDF nucleon matrix elements are renormalized nonperturbatively in RI/MOM-scheme. However, the recent renormalized quasi-PDFs suffer from unphysical oscillations that alter the shape of the true distribution as a function of Bjorken-$…
We extract two nonsinglet nucleon Parton Distribution Functions from lattice QCD data for reduced Ioffe-time pseudodistributions. We perform such analysis within the NNPDF framework, considering data coming from different lattice ensembles and discussing in detail the treatment of the different source of systematics involved in the fit. We introduce a recipe for taking care of systematics and use it to perform our extraction of light-cone PDFs.
We present the first Monte Carlo based global QCD analysis of spin-averaged and spin-dependent parton distribution functions (PDFs) that includes nucleon isovector matrix elements in coordinate space from lattice QCD. We investigate the degree of universality of the extracted PDFs when the lattice and experimental data are treated under the same conditions within the Bayesian likelihood analysis. For the unpolarized sector, we find rather weak constraints from the current lattice data on the phenomenological PDFs, and difficulties in describing the lattice matrix elements at large spatial dist…
Parton distribution functions (PDFs) are nonperturbative quantities describing the relation between a hadron and quarks and gluons within it. We propose to extract PDFs from QCD global analysis of "data" generated by lattice QCD calculations of good "lattice cross sections", which are basically single-hadron matrix elements that are lattice QCD calculable and perturbative QCD factorizable into the PDFs. To demonstrate the existence of good "lattice cross sections", we take quasi-quark distribution introduced by Ji [1] as a case study to show that it could be factorized into the PDFs to all ord…
Generalized parton distributions provide a unified parameterization of hadron structure and allow one to combine information from many different observables. Lattice QCD calculations already provide important input to determine these distributions and hold the promise to become even more important in the future. To this end, a reliable extrapolation of lattice calculations to the physical quark and pion masses is needed. We present an analysis for the moments of generalized parton distributions of the pion in one-loop order of chiral perturbation theory.
We extract the x dependence of the nonsinglet u-d distribution function in the nucleon from the lowest few moments calculated on the lattice, using an extrapolation formula which ensures the correct behavior in the chiral and heavy quark limits. We discuss the implications for the quark mass dependence of meson masses lying on the J(PC)=1(--) Regge trajectory.
